It's a Wonderful Life (not a holiday cheer thread)

[No Elephants]

One Christmas, someone gave me a copy of the Christmas movie classic, It's a Wonderful Life. (I have a collection of Christmas movies that I watch every year. What can I say?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life

Turns out, the screenwriters who wrote the script for that movie (who included cirector Capra) or the author of the book on which the movie was based, were way ahead of their time. Either that, or things haven't changed since 1946 as much as we tend to assume.

In the movie, while the stock market is hot, hot, hot before Wall Street swindlers cause a Crash, George Bailey's friend, Sam (Heehaw) Wainwright tells George that soybeans are the next big thing.

Well, something made out of soybeans was supposed to be the next big thing. Still, if George had bought himself a couple of soybean farms back then, he'd probably be a happy man now. Sure, it would have taken some time before vegans made soybeans a hot commodity, but soybean farms would eventually have made George and his family pretty comfortable.

Sam Wainright himself, though, who had a rich daddy, was able to make his own fortune quickly, making parts for fighter planes during World War II. Sam Wainwright, military contractor, getting rich on the MIC. Why have I missed that every time I've seen the movie?

There is also a scene in the movie in which banker Potter's accountant or business manage or whoever he is bursts into Potter's office with some business news. Potter says, "Tell the Congressman to hold." So, even then, banksters controlled our esteemed elected officials. (The Godfather, in which the mob did the same, along with police and judges, would not be paid until 1972

And, of course, Potter steals the money that George's uncle absentmindedly leaves on the table after he filled out his deposit slip. Then, Potter refuses to lend George any of the Baily S & L depositors' money that Potter had stolen, much as banks refused to lend after we bailed them out. This leads George to yell at his kid's public school teacher and then attempt suicide. However, and angel steps in. The townspeople pool their money to bail out George's bank, leaving both George's bank and Potter's richer and the townspeople poorer. But, since George had been so good to them, they are happy to do it, caroling as they drop their money into the pot.

Over the years, the "had been so good to them" bit has dropped out of the equation, as has the angel (or so it seems, anyway). Our donations to banks via the FDIC and TARP are no longer voluntary on the part of we donors. Nor do we sing as politicians of both of the largest political parties hold hands long enough to "donate" our money to banksters on our behalf.

Still, as the French supposedly say, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

And there were in the same country policians, abiding in the field, fleecing their sheeple by night. (Luke 2:8, No Elephants Version)

[Enthusiast]

1. That is quite the editorial. Highly recommended!

Great job. Wonderful insight.

Is It's a Wonderful Life the greatest movie ever? It has to be close to the very top of the list if not.

I would be curious to know if the network execs have colluded with the corporate government to show It's a Wonderful Life fewer times since the Great Theft of 2008®. I do not know if it has actually been shown fewer times. But it would not surprise me in the least. How is that for a conspiracy theory.

[No Elephants]

2. Actually, the owners of the copyright were themselves getting ripped off.

Apparently, a variety of tv outlets just started showing the movie, willy nilly. (Not exactly true. See my P.S., later in this same post) Then, at some point, whoever or whatever owns the copyright finally woke up and said, "Excuse me, but you didn't build that. If you want to show it, pay up."

And that reduced the number of TV outlets that were broadcasting the film. I am not sure when that happened. More recently, there was buzz from somewhere about a remake. (Why, God, why?) And the owner of the copyright again stepped up and said, "We have not authorized any remake."



As far as the movie being one of the best:

It's a Wonderful Life is considered one of the most critically acclaimed films ever made. It was nominated for five Oscars and has been recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made,<3> placing number 11 on its initial 1998 greatest movie list, and would also place number one on its list of the most inspirational American films of all time.<6> Capra revealed that this was his personal favorite among the films he directed and that he screened it for his family every Christmas season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life

Nonetheless, it was a disappointment at the box office at the time of its initial release. Id.

I think I read somewhere that is was on the big screen again this month, but I saw only the headline and don't know what that is all about.


A conspiracy between media and almost anybody would not surprise me either, but that was not my recollection of what happened.

Thank you for all the kind words.

PS. I just found a link. It was around 1999 that the copyright owner nipped the many showings in the bud, via an interesting legal technicality.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/1999/12/why_wonderful_life_comes_but_once_a_year.html

So, I was a bit off in saying the owners were getting ripped off. They had let the copyright lapse. So, I was more correct when I said they "finally woke up." Now, I believe a copyright can be renewed for up to 100 years, aka the Walt Disney copyright law amendment.

Which reminds me. Disney was sued early on for allegedly having stolen Mickey Mouse, the start of the Disney empire, from another cartoonist. Obviously, Disney won the case, but, looking at both early drawings, I thought the other guy really had a point. Then again, I thought the person who was the first to think up a kid wizard who goes to wizard school had a point, too, but the author of Harry Potter won that suit. Shows what I know.